Two quantities are of the same order of magnitude if one is less than 10 times as large as the other. Each increase of one power of 10 is an increase in magnitude of 1. For example, 106 is 4 orders of magnitude above 102.

As the Sun's magnetic field is carried out through the solar system, the Sun is rotating. Its rotation winds up the magnetic field into a large rotating spiral, known as the "Parker spiral", named after the scientist who first described it. The Parker spiral magnetic field is indicated by the yellow arrows.

The magnetic field is primarily directed outward from the Sun in one of its hemispheres, and inward in the other. This causes opposite magnetic field directions in the Parker spiral. The thin layer between the different field directions is described as the "neutral current sheet". Since this dividing line between the outward and inward field directions is not exactly on the solar equator, the rotation of the Sun causes the current sheet to become "wavy", and this waviness is carried out into interplanetary space by the solar wind.

A fourth state of matter -- not a solid, liquid or gas. In a plasma, the electrons are pulled free from the atoms and can move independently. The individual atoms are charged, even though the total number of positive and negative charges is equal, maintaining an overall electrical neutrality.